I always check stuff like this with new appliances, but I guess there’s some people who don’t…
There’s a reason why kitchen appliances in general have such short 3ft cables. There also a reason why modern kitchens built to code have outlets every 3 ft. Too many people lburned the house down with extension cables strewn across the sink and electrocuted now we can’t have nice things.
Note for the non-americans who use significantly better measuring systems.
- Awg = american wire gauge, I.e wire diameter.
- 18awg = 1mm diameter
- 16 = 1.3mm
- 14 = 1.6mm
- 12 = 2.1mm
- Yes smaller numbers are thicker wires.
Besides the electrocution hazard, another problem (in the US) is that someone allowed non fused 16 and 18 gauge extension cables on the market. We should only have 14 and 12 (or start putting fuses on the cords like some other countries)
14 should be for “light duty” like electronics or lamps. What you don’t tell people is that pretty much anything inside the house will run fine on 14awg wire.
12 for everything “heavy duty”.
The idea is people use the same wire that matches what their breakers are rated for. A 20amp breaker doesn’t know that the 100ft 18 gauge extension cord feeding 3 surge protectors with every kitchen device and the “diy powered garage” is going to melt long before 20amps.
Is it overkill? yes. If you draw too much current will the wire overheat and burn down your house? Not if the breaker trips first.
Your measuring systems never cease to amaze me. This one is even more confusing than measuring socket wrenches in fractal inches.
Wait until you learn how we measure thin steel thickness.
At this point I’m almost afraid to ask, but I guess I need to know. How do you measure thin steel thickness?
With the Sheet Metal Gauge!
It’s the same as wire gauge, but the scale is different per material!
For steel
- 16g = 1.5mm
- 22g = .75mm
- And so on
Pretty much anything larger than 1/8th of an inch (3.2mm), we just use the measurement (in inches).
Why? Because we don’t have a common measurement unit smaller than an inch. There probably is one, but no one commonly uses it. Coming up with a gauge scale is actually easier than say .0123 inch thick. Say “12 gauge wire” and everyone (who knows about it), knows exactly what you’re talking about.
Pretty much anything below 1/32 (0.8mm) of an inch, we’ll switch to decimals. 0.0001 inch is valid with no common way to make that neater. No such thing as 1 mili-inch.
Remind me, what is the cost of living in Europe?
No such thing as 1 mili-inch.
I thought you have “thou” (thousandth of an inch) for that?
Pretty much anything below 1/32 (0.8mm) of an inch, we’ll switch to decimals. 0.0001 inch is valid with no common way to make that neater. No such thing as 1 mili-inch.
.001" is a thou or mil (1/1000 of an inch). That is commonly understood in any industry that requires that precision and also doesn’t already work in metric by default. 0.0001 would be 0.1 thou, but honestly any time I’ve ever seen anybody need more precision than a whole number thou, they worked in microns or nanometers.
Oh! I just remembered that the size of shotgun shell pellets are calculated that way. Take a fixed amount of lead and the gauge (we call it caliber) og the pellets is defined by how many of them you can make from that lump of lead.
Here in Norway it’s more expensive to live than ever. The interest is high and all other prices on have balooned this year, so the prices are too damn high. But I guess that is true for most countries.
Many people believe we are on the verge of a housing bubble bursting within a few years, so that might be a good time to relocate.
There’s the “mil” which is just a thousandth of an inch, also called “thou”. Not really that rare, however sufficiently precise measurement equipment probably was rare when the gauge standards were conceived
Sorry, but we don’t use wire diameter. We use cross section.
- 18AWG = 0.8mm²
- 16AWG = 1.3mm²
- 14AWG = 2.1mm²
- 12AWG = 3.3mm²
That’s why if you absolutely need an extension cable, you should get one that’s just long enough and can handle the current. I have my toaster oven on a heavy duty, 2 foot extension cord because the nearest outlet is just barely too far away. If the cord came out the other end of the toaster oven, I wouldn’t need the extension.
Which is why my toaster is now under a cupboard, making an entirely new fire hazard.
–Check the bottom of my own toaster.
Thank you for improving my life a little, fellow dumbass.
Same
Disappointment.
Hahaha. Reminds me of one of my own similar fails.
I bought this mop… I’m tallish at 6’. For at least a year I used this mop, cursing it everytime for being short. “What is this? A mop for dwarves?!” literally gave myself a bad back using it.
Until one day, something clicked, and I noticed I could extend it. Fuck my life.
My friends have the same mop as me. My mind was blown when she unscrewed the cap at the end, pulled the mop head off, and threw it in the washer versus how I’d been painstakingly washing in the bathtub and feeling like an idiot because no matter how hard I wrung it out I couldn’t get it to dry
My world was changed that day as well
That’s amazing, thanks for sharing your fail as I feel slightly less dumb now.
One of the best I’ve seen… was working on a track with a one of my writing partners, he’s messaging his gf who’s asking where his washing machine powder is, he replies, but the response makes him sigh deeply. Asked him what’s wrong, he shows me the message, it’s from his gf and says “babe… Do you realise you’re washing your clothes with dishwasher tablets?” 😂
Dude just likes his clothes to sparkle, don’t shame him.
On the flip side, you just taught me that the extra length can be wound up underneath!
Check your kettle, air fryer and other kitchen appliances as well.
I woul’ve just cut it and extended it… and find out in the process that there is more to that cable than meets the eye.
You cut your power cables?
If you know how to re-wire stuff properly, it’s conceptually an easy process (some devices can be tricky to take apart).
For example, on that toaster you can replace the cable with a longer one, put a new plug on it if that gets worn out, or if absolutely needed splice the cable with another one (that’s for when the device can’t be opened up for some reason)
Unplug toaster before cutting the power cord, or any other maintenance, such as cleaning the 3 years of crumb its collected.
The most preferred method is to replace the entire cable, the wires connect inside the device somewhere, probably with simple screw terminals. Replace the whole cable and you don’t have to worry about any weak points in the splice or insulation, because there are none.
The danger is when you don’t know how electricity and wiring works or get lazy and take shortcuts.
There’s a bunch that can go wrong, some of them have potentially life ending consequences, which is why it’s a bad idea to work on electronics…unless you take the time to learn how they work and be smart about it.
Thank you for that interesting read. Seems like quite a lot of effort and risk for a cheap toaster.
For a cheap toaster, yes, I wouldn’t bother either unless it was the best toaster ever. But for more expensive things, like an air fryer, power tools, vacuums, any thing with sentimental value… it is a great skill to learn how to do safely.
Just replacing a broken plug on an extension cord can save you big, the good cords are going for $20+, a new plug is closer to $2 (although replacing the plug removes its safety for outdoor use as it’s no longer a water tight seal).
Its usually cheaper to replace the damaged part than the whole unit.
Seems like quite a lot of effort and risk for a cheap toaster.
It really isn’t - if you have the technical knowledge.
And if you do chances are you’d happily take other people’s cheap toasters and repair them just for the fun of it.
If the cable is too short, yeah… that or just change the cable, depends how complicated disassembly of the appliance is.
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Same. Also, countertop appliances should always have at least a 3’ cord. I believe that’s part of electrical code.
3’? Three… minute? \j
3 feet.
’ is feet
" Is inches
Example: someone who is 5 foot 9 inches tall can write their height as 5’9"
Thank you for enlightening me in the freedom units sir
I also remembered it’s often written in that format on clearance height signs and such so here’s an “In the wild” example.
https://www.postguard.com/image/catalog/Height-Guard-Drive-Thru-Closeup.jpg
Have no idea about those standards to be honest, all sorts of Chinese shit appliances get imported here, I don’t think we have a code that regulates that.
Yeah I know plenty of chenese stuff ignores it. I forget where it’s said but countertop appliances are supposed to be 3’ cords and others are supposed to have 6’ cords. And then in houses you’re supposed to have plugs at those distances so people usually shouldn’t need extension cords.
As we say in Germany, tja.
Machste nix
Steckste net drin.
Let’s have a guess what country that guy lives in. 😉 The post with the most upvotes wins.
could be any?
Sure, but some are more likely than others. I was hoping for a game of guessing and upvoting.
Def Bulgaria with toasting knowledge like this.
Bulgaria, where toasters go to die. 🙂
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I mean we have toasters like this in Australia for like $10 with the same cable management design. Seems pretty standard to me.
Those scissors appear to be in metric so I’m going with EU
My guess is Canada
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This made me get out of bed to check my toaster but no, the cord really is just that short
Guess you bought the wrong toaster then lol…
